Biss, not to make this about age, but these divisions haven't been around that long. There are some who miss the old Adams, Patrick, Smythe and Norris (man the Norris was baaaaad), but expansion and relocation made them obsolete. No different here - it's been building for a while and with the Thrashers moving to Winnipeg, it's time to do something about it. This proposal keeps most of the key rivals together - Boston-Mtl, Mtl-Toronto, Toronto-Ottawa, Pitt-Philly, Calgary-Edmonton. The one that it loses is Detroit-Colorado, but I think that's calmed a lot since Colorado went into rebuild.

I liked the first version of it that had the Rangers and us in the same division. Miss that rivalry and now that the Rangers are getting good again (aside from their current injury issues) I think it would become 2nd only to the Bos-Mtl rivalry around here.

I need to get better at reading entire threads before I comment. I start at the top and if I find something that I want to respond to, I do. With reckless disregard for the fact that 4 other people already made a similar reply to the same post.

Drewski, that is direct result of not ignoring posters. Drive by reading if you will. I don't ignore but I do not read certain posters, Stanley in particular now.

In line with alignment, Red had a recommendation a month or so. I thought it was well organized. Travel time should be evened out, more than likely time zones but not exclusively.

In response to Drewski5's comment:

I need to get better at reading entire threads before I comment. I start at the top and if I find something that I want to respond to, I do. With reckless disregard for the fact that 4 other people already made a similar reply to the same post.

The playoff format calls for the top three teams in each division to earn post-season berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild-card teams, the top two records remaining in each conference. That means there's a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.

It would be divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs, so 1 vs. 4, 2 vs 3 in the first round. The two fourth seeds would be made up of the wild-card teams. The top division winner based on regular-season points in the standings would face off against the lower-ranked wild-card team. The other division winner would play the higher-ranked wild-card.

With the reversion to the division setup, I'm kind of glad that Winnipeg didn't get put in with Calgary and Edmonton. Too many bad memories from those old playoff matches. It should help with strengthening existing rivalries (better odds for Habs/Bruins, Wings/Leafs playoff series) and help build new ones (Jets/Wild, Van/LA).

I don't care how much "The West" suffers but I hear it all the time. People out here in Van haven't seen Crosby or Ovie enough. They haven't seen the Bruins since "The Finals". Western teams have ridiculous travel schedule. I don't have any simpathy but . . . that's some of the reasons for movement